PCR is banking on the future!
The love affair between PCR and karting goes back a long way, several decades in fact. The story looks set to continue for a long time yet if we are to judge by the Italian factory’s homologation in early 2007 of a brand new engine destined for the International Federation’s new categories. As the this season’s results have shown, the Windfire has a good pedigree !
It was 20 years ago that a PCR-PCR machine was first crowned World Champion. That was in Jesolo with Italian champion Giampiero Simoni in the driving seat. Since then the trophies have just kept rolling in for the Piacenza factory, which has always managed to stay ahead of the game and build for the future. So when the CIK/FIA announced their intention to change the rules and make the 125cc “long-life” engine obligatory, PCR was there at the ready. So the Windfire engine that enters the fray for the 2007 season is the latest in a long line of engines produced by the Italian factory.
On the first outing last February, Armand Convers clocked the second fastest time in the new KF1 category, just 6 hundredths of a second off pole position. Thus the story begins ! “In Lonato, it was great to see the Windfire so competitive right from the off”, commented the official works driver. “The following races confirmed the excellent impression, even if bad luck did prevent us getting the final result we deserved. But in the first round of the European Championship, less than three months later, we got the result we had been waiting for”. The race, which was run in Ugento, in southern Italy, saw Armand Convers climb on the podium in second place twice running. “The kart went perfectly”, said the Frenchman. “Because of all the rubber on the track there was miles of grip in Ugento, it needed a strong chassis and a potent engine to power clear after the corners. I was lucky enough to have both, so I was able to get my European campaign off to a flying start. I know for a fact that PCR’s engineers and race preparers have more ideas up their sleeve for the developing the engine over the coming months, so I’m feeling pretty confident for the rest of the season”.
As it happens, PCR was the manufacturer most in view on the Italian Grand Prix podium, because kart chasses from Piacenza were brilliant in the 125cc gearbox classes too. In KZ1, Renda Motorsport’s Jérémy Iglesias came third and second in the two races – an impressive result considering it was only his third outing in a difficult class. And in KZ2, Dutchman Thomas Knopper’s competitiveness was crowned with victory. His reward? The AVG Racing team driver went straight to the head of the championship title standings!
“I’d like to congratulate all the drivers and technicians on what are excellent results at this high level of competition”, said Luigi Cavaciuti, one of the PCR factory’s managers. “The qualities of our chassis were once again on show, along with those of our new Windfire engine which is just starting its career. What is especially encouraging is that it is not only in KF1 that the engine is competitive. In the first round of the French championship, for example, William Benedetti finished second in KF2, and so did young Brandon Maïsano in KF3. Managing to build an engine that is proving to be fast in each of these very different categories is a considerable achievement for everyone at the factory”.
We mustn’t forget that the PCR Windfire can also be fitted to other makes of chassis. Recognizing the potential of the engine, the famous Danilo Rossi and his team DR Racing Kart have decided to kit out several of their drivers with PCR Windfire engines – one more reason for thinking that the future is bright for the PCR brand. mand Convers at the top of the race in Ugento.
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